Discipline of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
Water Environ Res. 2023 Aug;95(8):e10915. doi: 10.1002/wer.10915.
The treatment of recalcitrant emerging pollutants is a major concern in wastewater treatment. The purpose of this study was the optimization of emerging recalcitrant pollutant degradation using carbamazepine as a representative pollutant. Investigations of the carbamazepine degradation in wastewater was carried out by manipulating discharge current, air flow rate, and initial concentration to maximize removal efficiency and minimize energy consumption.
The study utilized a three-factor at two levels factorial design with randomized central runs. Discharge current, air flow rate, and initial concentration were the independent variables while to maximize removal efficiency and minimize energy consumption were the response variables. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the data.
Discharge current, air flow rate, and initial concentration significantly impacted the removal efficiency to different degrees. However, for energy consumption, only current and air flow rate were the significant variables. The highest removal efficiency obtained was 93% ± 4% for 10 and 40 mg/L initial carbamazepine concentration after 10 min of plasma treatment at a current of 0.45 A and no air flow rate.
The plasma reactor demonstrated the capability to treat high cyclic organic chemical contaminant concentration in wastewater with possible applications in preconcentrated wastewater remediation. However, there is still room for reactor design optimization. One key area of focus is reducing treatment cost, which may be achieved theoretically, pending further experimental investigation, by introducing an alternating current power supply, which can reduce energy consumption by 50%-60%.
Discharge current, air flow rate, and initial concentration all influenced the removal efficiency of carbamazepine. For energy consumption, only current and air flow rate were significant variables. Higher currents result in an improved highly reactive species and UV generation. Treatment cost per m3 for the plasma reactor is higher than established technologies. The plasma reactor in the study still requires significant optimization.
处理难降解新兴污染物是废水处理中的一个主要关注点。本研究的目的是优化使用卡马西平作为代表性污染物的新兴难降解污染物的降解。通过操纵放电电流、空气流速和初始浓度来研究废水中的卡马西平降解，以最大限度地提高去除效率并最小化能源消耗。
该研究采用两水平三因子析因设计，并进行随机中心运行。放电电流、空气流速和初始浓度是自变量，而最大限度地提高去除效率和最小化能源消耗是响应变量。对数据进行方差分析（ANOVA）。
放电电流、空气流速和初始浓度对去除效率有不同程度的显著影响。然而，对于能源消耗，只有电流和空气流速是显著变量。在等离子体处理 10 分钟后，对于 10 和 40mg/L 的初始卡马西平浓度，在电流为 0.45A 且无空气流速的情况下，获得了最高的去除效率 93%±4%。
等离子体反应器展示了处理高浓度循环有机化学污染物的能力，可能适用于预浓缩废水修复。然而，仍有必要进行反应器设计优化。一个关键的关注领域是降低处理成本，从理论上讲，通过引入交流电电源，可以减少 50%-60%的能源消耗，从而实现这一目标。
放电电流、空气流速和初始浓度都影响卡马西平的去除效率。对于能源消耗，只有电流和空气流速是显著变量。更高的电流会产生更好的高反应性物质和 UV 生成。等离子体反应器的每立方米处理成本高于已建立的技术。研究中的等离子体反应器仍需要进行重大优化。
